Any disadvantage to applying to MD/PhD from MD?

[PanPan]

It seems as though most schools allow you to transfer into MD/PhD program after the first year of medical school.

Is there any disadvantage to doing this?

My reasoning is for MD/PhD, you first have to get into MD, so why not apply to your MD programs, focus on those applications, see where you get in, and then go from there. Instead of applying to a bunch of MD/PhD programs where you don't even get into med school.

I believe, maybe this is wrong, that all schools examine your MD application separately and then if successful, consider you for the combined program. Are there some schools where applying to an MD/PhD can help you get in? (This seems odd, because one would think that if they had a policy like this, they would be inundated with applications, from people who want a break getting into med school).

Any thoughts or advice would be great.

Thanks!

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[Remuneration]

I may be wrong, but I thought MD/PhD programs, unlike MD programs are less concerned about state residency.

More importantly though, if you really want to do MD/PhD, you're much better off applying MD/PhD to a variety of schools than applying MD and hoping to nab one of your individual school's more limited slots. You're going to have to be all the more persuasive about why you want to do the dual degree to switch programs after matriculating.

 

[JHopRevisit]

Is there any disadvantage to doing this?

First of all, you would pay a years worth of medical school tuition. $40,000 is nothing to sneeze at. Second, policies at different schools vary. At some schools admission to MD/PhD for their medical students is almost automatic (although funding tends to be incomplete, so the value of an "admission" varies) whereas at others you have to apply to a competitive process internally. Although the odds of acceptance for internal applicants tend to be higher, you're limited to only applying to the medical school at which you're already enrolled; thus, your overall odds of entering an MD/PhD program are much lower if the school has a competitive process.

In other words, you lose $40,000, and the rest depends on each individual school

I believe, maybe this is wrong, that all schools examine your MD application separately and then if successful, consider you for the combined program. Are there some schools where applying to an MD/PhD can help you get in? (This seems odd, because one would think that if they had a policy like this, they would be inundated with applications, from people who want a break getting into med school).

That is not true. Many schools (my school is one of them) have a separate MD-PhD admissions committee. They evaluate your potential as a physcian scientist, with limited input from the medical school. It will be easier to get in if you are a better physician scientist applicant than a pure physician applicant. But that is not the case for most people. Overall, MD-PhD applicants tend to have slightly higher MCATs and GPAs, so by one objective measure acceptance is harder, although it obviously based on your application (for ex., if you have extensive research experience but little clinical volunteering/shadowing, MD/PhD might be easier).
Furthermore, most people aren't willing to commit 3-5 extra years of their life to a PhD to slightly increase their odds of getting into medical school, even if it were easier to get in as an MD-PhD, which it almost certainly isn't.